More pitiful than Pearl

We used to call one of our sheep Pitiful Pearl when we got her...  She had been rejected by her mother and bottle fed.  None of the other sheep wanted her around and she bawled the whole first summer...  But she has always been the most loving and one of my best mothers....

But this lamb is truly pitiful..  A neighbor called Sunday and wanted me to take this lamb.  It was about the same age as mine and had been rejected by its mother...  In addition she said her dog was harassing it..  I was really overwhelmed when  it arrived..  It is so emaciated as you can see by its haunches...and her dog had chewed off the bottom of both its ears and it looks like the dog  was chewing on its leg also..  I'm trying to get it to come for a bottle supplement but no luck so far...

You can see it here with one of my fat-assed little darlings who have been very kind to it.

The dinner yesterday was a  success and the center piece was one of my favorite.... flowering quince, blue clematis, blue double columbine, doronicum and a little yellow wildflower... DH did all the dishes...

Missed photo op and how to put stress on your marriage

I've mentioned many times that DH is not the handyman of my dreams and I often have to negotiate tasks...  This was even bigger than sour cream rolls....  I had to offer up TWO dinner parties in one weekend.

First I wanted all the old wax stripped from the   old-fashioned linoleum in my kitchen.. (an on-your-knees job with amonia and scouring pads) and then I wanted the backup refrigerator moved from the laundry room into the kitchen to replace the one that died about 2 months ago.

He wanted to do the frig first but I knew that if the lino didn't come first it might not make it...  So he was a great sport and did a bang up job....all the time thinking he'd whip that frig into the kitchen in short order and be off to coffee at Starbucks...

Everything had to be unloaded from the refring/freezer combo.  Then both doors had to be removed.... Then the washer disconnected and moved.  Then the door to the laundry room had to be taken off the hinges...  THEN he had to maneuver a 29 1/2" frig through a 29 1/2" door opening...  He started by thinking he could pull it through but it was hard to get a grip and about halfway through it was stuck and he could neither move it forward nor backward and had no way to get behind to push...  So he had to get the step ladder to climb over the refrigerator...  That was my missed photo opportunity but I was busy holding the ladder...   About an two hours later it was moved, cleaned and reloaded and he was off to Starbucks...

Today I am marinating lamb chops, fixing individual potoato au gratins, and have a lemon sponge tart in the oven. All to go with roasted beets with an orange sauce and spring greens salad...  Monday will be braised leg of lamb, mushroom risotto, salad and rhubarb pies...  But my floor has a shining with a new wax job and the refrigerator is moved.... Sometimes a girl just has to do what she's got to do.

My theory on color and color gone WILD!!!!

When it comes to color I tend to be analytical. I love monotones, pastels and subdued earthy colors..and colors I choose are always directly related to my moods. So I'm always fascinated by people who use pure colors and lots of it... The first retreat I went to in Colorado I saw a large piece by Lauri Burgessor and was immediately in love with it and her... It was her endearing "Romance Novel" quilt. This butterfly is one of her latest. Of course she is a superb stitcher but it was her use of color I found especially exciting. She doesn't blog nearly enough but I see that she did today..

Another similar person is Cathy LaBath. Anyone receiving her blocks to work on is aware of her love for color.....all colors and all at the same time. I am convinced there is not a color she doesn't love and use... Her blocks are challenging but always make me smile. I have a "seams only" block that she did for me in my colors which I shall treasure because limiting her palette must have been a challenge for her..

And then there is Allison Aller who I swear I saw skipping in CT. Her love of color is pure joy and if you haven't seen her "Jill's Quilt" she did for a cancer charity you must..

Now my theory is if you could peek inside the heads of such people who use color with such wild abandon that it would be like looking into a kaleidoscope and whirling color would be exploding everywhere in their heads... And since for me color is tied to my moods, I am convinced that these people also have a deep source of inner joy.. I want to thank each and everyone (and those I missed) for adding all the extra color to my life and always making smile...

I love you all.

Block Talk with Gerry!!

I LOVE talking about blocks, studying blocks, and playing with them in Photoshop... I am always on a quest for great blocks and trying to figure out what makes them so great and MAYBE what little tweaking would make them better... So I started a companion blog that will be devoted to this quest. I will be moving some block discussions already done over to it as I go along...

So I started with Janet's block and have a few others lined up for the next posts. I'm hoping that you will pop over....become a follower and join in the fun...
http://blocktalkwithgerry.blogspot.com/

Artist Round Robin

Round robins in our online crazy quilt group (CQI) usually lend themselves to crazy quilting either in theme or technique but this one is totally different from any I've seen posted. The title was simply "artist" and I had no idea where it was headed.. I joined because I admired the stitchers who had signed up. I have never been in a group with Gayle before but Helina, Ritva, Margreet and Hideko are all outstanding stitchers.

Rather than pick one artist I chose to pick one theme done by various artists ... "a girl and her doll" I asked for very "girly" blocks which should definitely lend itself to CQ

I received Gayle's block first and she chose Georgia O'Keeffe. You saw my choice and how I handled it yesterday. But don't all her blocks capture the desert feel that had such a huge influence on O'Keeffe? I knew immediately which block I wanted... When I join a RR and the blocks are posted I always look ahead and decide which blocks would be my favorite and the possibilities.



Next I'll get Margreet's blocks and I have no favorite as they are all very similar....Her choice of artist is Mondrian and I do have a few ideas but not the easiest to relate to crazy quilting. I will follow Gayle.

Ritva took an entirely different approach and chose specific pictures and designed her blocks to capture the feel of each picture. She did a fantastic job. I can't remember his name but he is a Finnish wildlife artist...and all have birds...my very favorite.

Here I do have a instant attraction to one block and will be holding my breath until I get them hoping it is still available.. I'm third in line so chances are good but I love all of them so if my first choice is gone I will be delighted with any of them.. Can never go wrong with birds

Helina inserted images from the artist of her choice, Schjefbeck. Again I have a favorite but not holding my breath being fourth in line.

Last but not least is Hideko and she also chose a modern artist Paul Klee and constructed blocks that reflected the color combinations in his painting... Of this group I see one block that the entire block leaps into my head.. but only once in all the RRs I've been in has the block of my choice still been available being last to receive them... But I can hope.

Actually it is probably just as well I don't always get what I want as then I have an extra challenge to myself...which for me is the whole idea of joining RRs. I just thought you might enjoy seeing how each participant handled this generic theme..."artist".